Care Setting Environmental Analysis

ASSESSMENT INSTRUCTIONS

Note: You will use the results of this analysis to develop a strategic plan in Assessment 2.

Preparation

You have been asked to conduct an analysis of your care setting that will result in two potential pathways toward a strategic plan to improve health care quality and safety in your organization, department, team, community project, or other care setting. To accomplish this, you will take two approaches to the analysis:

Complete the discovery and dream phases of an appreciative inquiry (AI) project.
Conduct a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis.

To help ensure that your analysis is well-received, the requester has suggested that you:

Present your analysis results in four parts:
Part 1: Appreciative Inquiry Discovery and Dream.
Part 2: SWOT Analysis.
Part 3: Comparison of Approaches.
Part 4: Analysis of Relevant Leadership Characteristics and Skills.
Your analysis should be 4–7 pages in length.

Analysis Requirements

Note: The requirements outlined below correspond to the grading criteria in the scoring guide, so at a minimum, be sure to address each point. In addition, you are encouraged to review the performance level descriptions for each criterion to see how your work will be assessed.

Writing, Supporting Evidence, and APA Style

Communicate professionally when conducting interviews and collecting data.
Write clearly, with professionalism and respect for stakeholders and colleagues.
Integrate relevant sources of evidence to support your assertions.
Cite at least 3–5 sources of scholarly or professional evidence.
Include relevant interview information.
Format your document using APA style. The APA Style Paper Template and associated tutorial, linked in the Resources, are provided for your use. Be sure to include:
A title page and reference page. An abstract is not required.
A running head on all pages.
Appropriate section headings.
Properly formatted citations and references.
Proofread your writing to minimize errors that could distract readers and make it more difficult to focus on the substance of your analysis.

Part 1: Appreciative Inquiry Discovery and Dream

Synthesize stories and evidence about times when a care setting performed at its best with regard to quality and safety goals.
Collect stories from your care setting. You may collect stories through interviews or conversations with colleagues or provide your own.
Explain how your stories are related to quality and safety goals.
Describe the evidence you have that substantiates your stories.
Identify the positive themes reflected in your stories.
Describe other evidence (for example: data, awards, accreditations) that validates your care setting’s positive core.
Propose positive, yet attainable, quality and safety improvement goals for your care setting.
Explain how accomplishing these goals will lead to ethical and culturally-sensitive improvements in quality and safety.
Explain how your proposed goals align with your care setting’s mission, vision, and values.

Part 2: SWOT Analysis

Conduct a SWOT analysis of your care setting, with respect to quality and safety goals.
Provide a narrative description of your analysis.
Identify the assessment tool you used as the basis of your analysis.
Describe your key findings and their relationships to quality and safety goals.
Describe one area of concern that you identified in your SWOT analysis—relevant to your care setting’s mission, vision, and values—for which you would propose pursuing improvements.
Explain how this area of concern relates to your care setting’s mission, vision, and values.
Explain why you believe it will be necessary and valuable to pursue improvements related to this area of concern.

Part 3: Comparison of Approaches

Compare the AI and SWOT approaches to analysis and reflect on the results.

Describe your mindset when examining your care setting from an AI perspective and from a SWOT perspective.
Describe the types of data and evidence you searched for when taking an AI approach and a SWOT approach.
Describe the similarities and differences between the two approaches when communicating and interacting with colleagues.

Part 4: Analysis of Relevant Leadership Characteristics and Skills

Analyze the leadership characteristics and skills most desired in the person leading potential performance improvement projects, taking both an AI and SWOT approach.

Explain how these characteristics and skills would help a leader facilitate a successful AI-based project and a successful SWOT-based project.
Comment on any shared characteristics or skills you identified as helpful for both AI and SWOT approaches.